Sonic the Thief?
by The Pen Vs The Sword
Summary: A thief is on the loose and is besmirching Sonic's reputation. Can Sonic clear his name? A bit of sonamy as well.
1. Heroic Thief?

**A/N: **Okay, so I'm here again to try a story that has more than one chapter to it. I've taken a short break from all the romance to bring you a different story instead.

Pen: With mystery, wonder, adventure, and-

Sword: Who cares? Let's just see some ass-kicking!

Pen: Good idea. En garde.

Anyway, hope you enjoy it. I don't own any of the characters except the gray hedgehog. The others belong to Sega.

**Chapter 1-Heroic Thief?**

It had been a normal morning for Tails. He had gone throug his normal morning routine of checking on his plane, his inventions in the works, and the rest of his house before he had made himself a bowl of cereal. He was eating while watching the news, waiting for the weather report.

_I hope it's a good day to do some test flights_, he thought as he munched on a spoonful of cereal. Suddenly, what he saw on the television made him spit out his breakfast. In a bold headline on the television, he saw "Sonic Turns to Crime?" displayed at the bottom.

Tails grabbed the remote and turned the volume up just in time to hear the news anchor say, "Another grocery store was stolen from last night. The intruder is seen here on this security video."

The screen cut to gray footage of a hedgehog, too small to be seen, running around the store grabbing food off the shelves. However, the first thing that Tails noticed was that the hedgehog was running no where near as fast as Sonic. At the most, he was running about as fast as Knuckles.

The footage faded back to the news anchor. "This has been the latest in a string of robberies that have included grocery and clothing stores. Police are currently looking for the famed hedgehog Sonic and have asked anyone who has information as to his whereabouts, to please call their local police station. And now to the weather," the anchor said, turning to the meteorologist.

Tails simply shut off the television as he shook his head. "That couldn't be Sonic," he told himself. Why would Sonic steal from those places anyway?

----

Sonic himself was enjoying a nice run down the streets of Station Square. For at least a few months, there had been no word from Eggman and things had been quiet. So it was usually around this time that the evil genius would try to take over the world once again.

As Sonic was passing some shops, he heard a police siren behind him. He turned around, trying to find if there was some source of trouble, but the sire was following him. He slowed to a stop and waited for the police to catch up to him.

"Hey officers. What's up?" Sonic waved at them as they stepped out of their car.

Both of the officers pulled out their pistols and aimed at Sonic. "Alright hedgehog, on the ground now! Keep your hands where we can see them!" one of the cops ordered.

"Woah, what's goin' on?" Sonic asked as he held his hands up.

"On the ground!"

Sonic started to kneel to the ground, but then took off down the road as fast as he could.

"Dammit!" he heard one of the officers shout.

_What's goin' on here?_ Sonic wondered. He decided he should head over to Tails' workshop and see if he knew anything.

---

"We better hurry home Cheese," Cream said to her flying companion as she carried a large bag of groceries down the sidewalk. "Mother will be worried if we're late."

She passed by a newspaper stand that had several papers that caught her eye. On each of them were printed "Sonic Caught in the Act" and below the headline was a gray picture of a hedgehog running around a store and stealing things off the shelves.

"Mr. Sonic?" Cream said confused.

Suddenly two large gray robots landed in front of her. They were round, almost egg-shaped, with shoulder mounted guns and two long arms and legs for each of them. On their chests was the face of a round man's head with a bushy mustache.

"Well, well. A doe caught in the headlights," a sinister voice said, coming from one of the robots.

"Eggman!" Cream cried. She dropped the bag and tried to run in the opposite direction, but one of the robots grabbed her and held her to it's face.

"Since I can't seem to find Amy, you'll do," Eggman's voice said.

"Chao, chao!" The other robot stumbled as Cheese had flown into it's head and thrown off it's balance. The robot straightened itself and swatted the chao back.

"Pesky thing," Eggman said.

Cream began to cry for her friend, when another voice spoke up. "That's not very nice."

Both robots and Cream turned to see a gray hedgehog, who was cradling Cheese in his arms.

"Sonic? Wait, no you're not him," Eggman said through the robot. "Well, destroy him anyway!" The robot holding Cream started to climb up the wall of a nearby building while the other robot rushed at the hedgehog.

The hedgehog dodged to the right. "Woah!" he said, as he nearly dropped Cheese. He turned toward the street and saw a bus coming. Then he turned back to the robot and taunted him. "C'mon. You're so slow."

The robot again tried to tackle the hedgehog, but again the hedgehog dodged. The robot landed in the street and was struck by the bus with a loud crash.

The robot climbing the wall turned it's head to see his companion smashed by the bus. It's eyes narrowed at the gray hedgehog, but it continued to climb anyway.

The hedgehog ran up to the building and muttered, "Great. How am I supposed to get up there?"

Cheese flew out of his arms and held out his hands to the hedgehog. The hedgehog looked quizzically at him before realizing what Cheese was trying to do. "Okay, little guy. If you say so."

"Chao chao!" Cheese replied as the hedgehog grabbed Cheese's hands. Cheese slowly, but surely flew the hedgehog up to the roof where the other robot and Cream were.

"You going to let her go now or do I have to get physical?" the hedgehog threatened the robot.

The robot readied his guns and fired at the hedgehog. "Crap," he mumbled as he hid behind a few boxes on the roof. However, the bullets were easily ripping through them.

The hedgehog desperately looked for some sort of weapon and found a discarded lead pipe. "Well it's better than nothing." He grabbed it and ran out from behind the boxes to the robot.

A loud _clang!_ resounded as the lead pipe connected with the robot's legs, causing the robot itself to buckle. It dropped Cream, who was caught by Cheese and set safely down. The hedgehog swung again and let the pipe connect with the robot's head, denting it and making it fall down and silently shut down.

The hedgehog breathed a sigh of relief. He turned back to Cream, as if checking to see if she was okay, before he nodded and jumped off the building. Cream and Cheese raced over to the edge and saw him jump from window ledge to window ledge all the way to the ground and then run off.

"Who was that?" Cream asked Cheese.

Cheese's little ball formed a question mark to signal that he knew about as much as Cream did.

**A/N:** Okay, there's the first chapter. Who is this thief? Will Sonic escape from the police and clear his name? And what is Eggman up to? All that will be told as soon as someone reviews, because if nobody cares for this story, then I simply won't finish it and I'll go back to one-shots.

Sword: Dammit I wanna find out what happens!

Pen: I quite agree. And he's just asking for one review.

Oh, and if there's an expert in the audience who is good with keeping Sonic characters in character, would you mind telling me if they're OOC or not? In fact, if they get OOC at anytime, somebody call me on it please.


	2. A Mixup

**A/N:** Ok, the only reason I'm breaking my "review for a chapter" deal is because I felt that I owe it to Star the Hedgecat. So for her, I'll write the second chapter.

Sword: Yeah, but after this, it's back to a review for a chapter deal!

Disclaimer: I don't own any Sonic characters. They belong to Sega. I only own Gauge.

**A Mix-up**

"Tails!" The shouting and banging on the door shook the twin-tailed kitsune out of his thoughts as he jumped off the couch. He opened the door and was greeted by a rush of wind as Sonic raced inside.

"Hey Sonic," Tails greeted.

"Quick Tails, close the door!" Sonic told him. Tails obeyed and shut the door. He walked over to his couch and offered Sonic a seat in a chair next to him.

"What's going on Sonic?" he asked.

"That's what I wanna know!" Sonic exclaimed. He looked out the window next to the door before he took a seat next to Tails. "All morning and everywhere I go, there's cops chasing me!"

"I think I know why that is," Tails said. He picked up the remote and turned on the television. The news story that Tails had been watching was still playing, as was the footage from the thefts.

Sonic studied the television for a few seconds before he yelled, "What?! That's not me!"

Tails mentally breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, who is it?" he questioned.

Sonic shook his head. "I don't know, but I'm gonna find out."

-----

Amy stood outside of a television store as she watched the same news story that had confused Tails that morning. She could only stare in disbelief as the reporter said that the hedgehog shown was Sonic.

"Sonic?" she muttered. She was still staring at the television as someone rushed past her. The wind blew her hair into her face as she turned in it's direction.

Then she heard a familiar voice call, "Wait, please!" She turned to see Cheese carrying Cream in her arms. She stopped in front of Amy as she caught her breath.

"Hello Ms. Amy," Cream said in between breaths.

"Hey Cream," Amy replied. "Who are you chasing? Is it Sonic?"

Cream shook her head. "N-no. I don't know who it is, but he just saved us from-"

She was cut off as several of the robots from earlier landed around Amy and her.

"Eggman!" Cream cried.

"Ho, ho, ho!" Eggman laughed through the robots. "Finally, both of you alone without any of the others around!"

"I wouldn't say that," the gray hedgehog from before said as he now stood next to Amy and Cream.

Amy summoned her Piko Piko Hammer and took her battle stance. She glanced at the hedgehog while keeping her eyes on the robots. The hedgehog was about Sonic's height, with his spines styled in what could be called a mohawk. The only clothing he wore was black shoes and white gloves. However, she noticed how his orange eyes burned with determination.

"Who are you?" Amy asked.

"Just call me Gauge," the hedgehog answered. He looked around for something to use and found another lead pipe. "Wow, these things are everywhere." He picked it up and spun it around before getting ready as well.

"Cream, find somewhere to hide as soon as you can, alright?" Amy told her. Cream nodded and squeezed Cheese closer to her.

"Enough! Destroy the gray one and take Amy and Cream hostage!" Eggman's voice shouted. At this, the robots started to move in.

Gauge jumped at one of the robots and swung his pipe at it's head. The robot flew to its right and smacked into another one, sending them both to the ground.

Amy swung her hammer and managed to trip one, then she brought her hammer down on its chest to finish it. "Take that," she cried.

Cream had snuck behind some trashcans in a nearby alley and was trying her best to hide herself and Cheese. But she suddenly felt a metallic hand wrap around her. "No!" she cried, as she was forced to drop Cheese.

However, Gauge noticed her and hit the robot's arm with his pipe, denting it and forcing it to let go of Cream. She back to the cans and scooped up Cheese. Gauge meanwhile, wagged his finger at the robot. "Not today," he taunted.

The robot rushed him, but he jumped into the air and threw his pipe into its back. Electricity sputtered from its puncture and the robot fell lifeless. Gauge grabbed his pipe and ran back to join Amy, who was holding off the last two on her own.

"Back off!" she cried as she pounded away at one of them. Unfortunately, the lack of attention she paid to the other ended up with her getting knocked unconcious by it.

Before it could grab Amy and run off,Gauge charged it and hit every spot on it that he could find. He paused to admire his work of the now useless machine. "Only one more," he said. He turned around to find that the last robot was flying off in the sky, most likely back to Eggman's base. Gauge threw the pipe down on the ground in anger.

"Ms. Amy," Cream cried. She was now holding Amy's head in her lap, trying to wake her up. Cheese was just barely hovering nearby, which wasn't any surprise. After having to carry Gauge up that building and Cream down from it, not to mention getting tossed around by the robots, it was amazing he was still alive.

Gauge walked over to Cream and checked Amy's pulse. "Don't worry. She's not dead," he told her. "Just knocked out."

"What do we do then Mr. Gauge?" Cream asked.

Gauge was taken aback by the Mr. , but he recovered. "Well, we should probably take her home. Do you know where she lives?"

Cream nodded excitedly. "Yes, I do. Follow me." Gauge hoisted Amy up into his arms and ran after Cream and Cheese, who led the way to Amy's house.

-----

"So Sonic, how do we know what he looks like?" Tails asked as they walked around the city. They had decided to check out all the places that had been robbed to see if they could get any clues.

"Well, we could get a newspaper," Sonic said. "But one thing."

"What?"

"Do I have ta wear all this?" he cried. Tails glanced back. He had decided it would be too risky for Sonic to walk around as normal so he had made him wear a fake mustache, a large fedora hat, and a long, dirty trenchcoat.

Tails chuckled. "C'mon, its not that bad."

"Oh yeah, you don't keep tri-woah!" Sonic yelled as he tripped on the trenchcoat and fell face-first to the ground. He groaned as Tails erupted into laughter.

When he raised his head, he noticed he was staring at one of the newspapers that told about the robberies, However, this picture had a zoomed in photo of the hedgehog on the cover.

Sonic dug into one of the trenchcoat's pockets and pulled out some money. _Thanks Tails_, he thought as he paid the man at the newspaper stand and grabbed the newspaper.

"Hey Tails, stop laughing for a sec and check this out," Sonic waved the newspaper in front of Tails. Tails wiped a tear from his eye and studied the paper. "Can you see anything that we could use?"

"Hm, well from what I can tell, the only thing that I can see different from you is that this guy had a mohawk." Tails said. "But we could get it back to my lab and I could enhance the photo. C'mon let's go."

**A/N:** Oooooh, suspense. Anyway, now for the next chapter, I'm going to need at least one reviews. Even if it's telling me just how OOC the characters might be.

Sword: Yeah, so review!

...Um, where's the other one?

Sword: Oh, I don't know. I haven't seen him all day.

Well find him. My name doesn't make sense without him!

**Will Sonic and Tails find the mysterious thief? Will Amy be ok? Just who is this Gauge character? What exactly is Eggman up to? And just where the hell is Pen?**

Sword: Where the hell is that coming from?

**Find out next tim on "Sonic the Thief?"**


	3. Identity Revealed

**A/N: **Ok, true to my word, here's the third chapter.

Sword: *sniff* Has anyone seen Pen?

Oh yeah. If anyone see Pen, tell him to get his ass back here. Sword is an absolute wreck without him. Hey Sword, do you wanna do the d-

Sword: Pen, I'm sorry. Please come back.

Ok, guess I'll have to do it. I don't own any of the characters except Gauge. The others are owned by Sega.

**Identity Revealed**

"Mr. Gauge," Cream asked. Gauge didn't respond as he laid Amy down on her bed and covered her up. "Mr. Gauge?" Cream tried again.

"Huh? Oh sorry, I'm just not used to the Mr. Gauge," he replied. "Anyway, what is it?"

"Is Ms. Amy going to be fine?"

Gauge put his hand on Cream's shoulder and smiled. "I'm sure of it," he answered.

Cream smiled. "Well maybe we should wait here until she wakes up. Is that okay?"

Gauge hesistated slightly, but regained his composure quickly. "Sure, but I can't stay too long. Just a couple of hours."

-----

"I'm tellin' ya man. It was such an awesome battle!" Sonic and Tails heard a newspaper vendor saying to a customer. "Sonic saving two little girls and fighting all these robots! Right in front of my stand just about an hour ago!" That made Sonic and Tails stop in their tracks.

Tails walked over the the vendor and asked, "Did you see where they're were heading?"

The man shook his head. "Nah, 'fraid not. However, one of he girls had been knocked out pretty badily. Some pink hedgehog."

Sonic dashed over to the booth. "Amy?! What happened to Amy? Where is she?"

"I just said I don't know. They said something about taking her to some house. I guess either's the pink hedgehog's house or that little rabbit's house," the man replied.

Tails looked at Sonic. "Amy and Cream? And do you think this other hedgehog is...?"

"The thief," Sonic nodded. "I'll check Amy's house and you check Cream's house, alright?"

Tails nodded. "Y'know, you seem awfully worried about Amy right now Sonic."

"Well,uh, I'm just afraid that the thief might hurt them or somethin'," he mumbled. "Anyway, let's go!"

-----

"So Mr. Gauge," Cream asked as she sat in Amy's living room while Gauge walked around, admiring the many pictures, "where are you from?"

Gauge turned to look at her and take his attention off the pink room. In fact, the whole house almost seemed to be covered in pink. The living room's walls were painted a lighter shade of it than outside. The wooden floor was covered with rugs here and there and most of the furniture was a snow-white color. The only thing that seemed untouched by any of Amy's painting was the fireplace, which was a dark brown and held many pictures on its mantle, which Gauge had been looking at.

"Oh, here and there," he replied. "I never really stay in one place for very long. Maybe a few months at the most." He kept walking around, occasionally looking out the window. "So I have a question. Why was the guy after the two of you?"

Cream face saddened as she thought about it. "His name is Dr. Eggman and he's a very bad man. He always tried to kidnap Ms. Amy so that Mr. Sonic will come save her."

Gauge paused as he heard that and saw a picture on the mantle of Sonic and Amy together. "Sonic? As in Sonic the Hedgehog?" he asked nervously.

Cream nodded. "Yes, you've heard of him?"

Gauge nodded slowly. "Yep. I've heard of him." From what he could see in the pictures of Sonic and Amy together, it seemed to him like this Amy was Sonic's girlfriend. "This isn't good," he muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing. Say, I'm gonna go outside and get some fresh air, ok?" Gauge said as he began to walk to the back door. But at that moment th doorbell rang and Cream hopped off the couch to answer it.

When she opened the door, there stood Sonic as he took off his disguise. "Cream?" he said in surprise. "Where's Amy?"

"She upstairs Mr. Sonic. We were attacked by Dr. Eggman, but Mr. Gauge helped us," Cream replied, as she pointed to Gauge.

"Gauge?" Sonic looked at him and recognized the mohawk from the picture. "You! You're the thief!"

"Aw, great," Gauge muttered as Sonic rushed him. Sonic grabbed Gauge and slammed him against the wall. "Everyone keeps mistakin' me for you!"

"Hey man, that ain't my fault!" Gauge said as he pushed Sonic away.

"Mr. Sonic, please stop!" Cream cried. "Mr. Gauge helped us!"

Sonic shook his head. "No Cream, he's a thief. Go on, tell her," Sonic ordered.

Gauge sighed. "Alright, its true." Sonic smiled in triumph while Cream gasped. "But look, I've only ever taken stuff I've needed to survive. Just food and clothes. And," he turned to Sonic, "I didn't mean for anyone to mistake me for you. I'll try to clear that up."

"Is that why you have to move so much Mr. Gauge?" Cream asked. "Because you're a thief?"

Gauge nodded. "Yeah," he replied. "Anyway, I don't see how people have mistaken me for you Sonic. They shouldn't be pointing fingers at a world-hero."

"Yeah, well they're always quick ta judge," Sonic said. Then he looked around, as if searching for something. "By the way, where is Amy?"

"She upstairs. She's still out cold, but she should be fine. You better get up there and see her. I'm sure she wants to see her boyfriend first," Gauge said as he jerked his thumb to the stairs.

"Yeah," Sonic answered as he started to climb them. Then he paused. "Hey wait! I'm not her boyfriend!"

Gauge chuckled. "Could've fooled me with all the pictures."

-----

"Sir, I think we've found him," a soldier at a computer station said. An older man walked over to her and glanced at the screen.

"Station Square. Good job. Send two teams out there now with orders to take Sonic alive," the man ordered. "But tell them that getting the chaos emeralds that he stole is top priority."

"Yes sir," the woman answered. She grabbd a headset and put it on as she typed some commands into the computer. "Attention, G.U.N. task forces two and three. You have a new mission."

**A/N:** Well I hope that was enough of a cliffhanger for you guys to keep up with the one review=one chapter thing.

Sword: *is crying*

Its ok Sword. Pen will show up soon.

Sword: *keeps crying*

Hey Sword....En garde!

Sword: *cries harder*

Anyway, if you see Pen please tell me.

**Next time on Sonic the Thief? Is Amy alright? Does Sonic have feelings for her? And what is G.U.N. up to? Will Sonic be okay? Find out next time.**

I'm getting real sick of that.


	4. Hold It!

**A/N:** Ok, I decided to drop the whole one chapter for one review thing as I'm getting tired of waiting around. So without further ado, here's the next chapter!

Sword:...

Uh, Sword?

Sword:...Pen...Pen...

Okaaaayyyy. Anyway, I own none of the characters except for Gauge. The rest are owned by Sega. And if anyone sees Pen, tell him to get his ass back here because Sword is a wreck without him.

Sword: Pen...Pen...

Pen, wherever you are, when I find you, I'm going to kick your ass.

**Chapter 4-Hold it!**

"So that pretty much covers it," Gauge said. He had spent the last half-hour telling Tails what he had told Cream.

"Well, I guess it makes sense," Tails said slowly, "except for one part."

"What would that be?" Cream asked.

"Why is everyone chasing a small-time thief? I mean, you're even on the news. It doesn't make sense."

Gauge shrugged. "Beats me. All I know is that at some point, a bunch of cops started to chase me everywhere and some organizationas well. What were they called?" Gauge scratched his head, trying to remember. "Started with a g."

"G.U.N.?" Tails gulped.

"That's the one!" Gauge exclaimed. "Yeah those guys have been ruthless! And I don't know why."

"Well for now, we better get the word out that Sonic isn't a thief," Tails said.

"Yeah," Gauge said. Tails left the room to use the phone, leaving Gauge to relax on the couch while Cream worriedly gazed at the ceiling.

"I hope Ms. Amy is better," she whispered, as she held Cheese on her lap.

-----

Sonic sat beside Amy's bed, holding her hand and softly rubbing it. He had been there for a long while now, too long for Sonic to normally stay still. He sighed, wishing that she would be alright.

"I hope you're alright Ames," he muttered, looking at her peaceful, almost angelic-like face. Sonic had to admit, Amy was beautiful, especially when she was at peace like this.

He realized that he was leaning in so close that his nose was lightly touching hers. He quickly pulled back and shook his head. _That was close_, Sonic thought. He heard a faint sound coming from Amy as she began to stir.

"Sonic?" Amy whispered as she opened her eyes. She turned toward her crush, who was giving her his usual cocky smile.

"Hey Ames. How're ya feelin'?" he asked.

"Tired," she replied. She swallowed before she continued. "Where is everyone?"

"Tails is downstairs with Cream and that thief," Sonic answered.

"You mean Gauge?"

Sonic nodded. "How do ya know him?"

Amy sighed. "He helped us when Eggman tried to capture Cream and me." She stared at Sonic and then asked, "Have you been sitting with me the whole time?"

Sonic blushed and started to stutter. "Uh, well...ya see," but he was cut off by shouting coming from outside Amy's house.

-----

"What's going on?" Tails yelled as he came running back from the kitchen. Gauge moved aside the curtains on the windows and was peering outside while Cream was huddled on the couch with Cheese, shivering with fear.

"It's those G.U.N. bastards," Gauge growled.

"Come out with your hands up!" Tails heard them shout outside.

Gauge headed for the door. "Look, you guys aren't a part of this. I'll get them away from here." And with that he headed out the door.

"Hey, what's with all the yellin'?" Sonic asked as he dashed down the stairs.

"It's G.U.N. They're here for Gauge," Tails said.

Suddenly, several soldeirs burst into the house, guns drawn and pointed at the three of them. "Hold it! Don't move!" they shouted.

-----

"Ok, you got me. Now leave them alone!" Gauge told the soldiers outside. They were armed in black, bulletproof armor, with matching riot helmets and they had their guns aimed at Gauge. Gauge heard screaming and gunfire coming from inside, but before he could race back into the house, one of the soldiers shouted at him.

"Stay right there! We know you took the chaos emeralds!" the leader of the soldiers shouted for him to stay where he was.

"We know you've taken the chaos emeralds from us!" the leader said. "Now, we want them back!"

"I don't have your chaos emeralds!" Gauge told him. "I didn't steal them!"

"Right," the leader laughed as he walked closer. "We have video evidence that a hedgehog took them. So it was either you or Sonic. Either way, we'll bring all of you in. I'm sure one of you must know where they are."

Gauge growled as he heard more screaming coming from inside, as well as sounds of fighting. The leader smiled. "That would be my men apprehending your friends." Then he produced a pair of handcuffs. "Now don't make this difficult."

Gauge's head dropped, where he noticed a lead pipe hidden among the grass. _You've gotta be kidding me_, he thought. He dropped to the ground as if in surrender, causing the leader to come even closer with the handcuffs. As soon as the leader was right above him, Gauge grabbed the pipe and swung the leader's knee, bringing him to the ground.

"Sorry, but I don't think so!" Gauge told him as he ran back inside to help Sonic and the others.

-----

Inside, Sonic had taken Cream upstairs to hide with Amy, while Tails flew around, grabbing random items and throwing them at the soldiers. Several times, he came close to catching a bullet, but was lucky enough to dodge it.

"Hey! No one shoots at my lil' bro!" Sonic taunted before he performed a homing attack on a few of the soldiers, disarming them and knocking them out at the same time.

"Thanks Sonic!" Tails said, as he swatted a soldier into the wall with his namesakes. "Watch it!" he shouted, pointing to a soldier right behind Sonic.

Sonic ducked as the soldier tried to butt him with his gun. Sonic swept the soldier's legs, causing him to crash to the floor. Then he jumped into the air, curling into a ball and slammed into the soldier's chest while spinning.

"Alright!" Tails said, before he was kicked by a soldier in his side. He fell against the sofa, rubbing his side. When he looked up, the soldier had his barrel pointed right at Tails' nose. Tails gulped and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Oh no you don't!" Gauge yelled. He swung his pipe at the soldier's head, cracking the riot helmet. He collapsed to the floor. Gauge held out a hand to Tails and helped him up.

"We gotta get out here!" Sonic told them.

Gauge and Tails nodded as they ran upstairs, with more of G.U.N.'s soldiers following them, shooting off their weapons.

**A/N:**

Pen: What did I miss?

Sword: Pen! *hugs him as hard as Amy hugs Sonic*

Where the hell have you been?

Pen: I-*gasp*- was meeting with my friend.

Who?

Pen: Pencil

Pencil: Who are these barbaric fools that you associate with?

Pen: I don't associate with them freely. I'm forced too.

Sword: Hey, don't make me fight you!

Pen: How? There's two of us and one of you!

Sword: Oh yeah? Mace come over here!

Mace: Smashy smash! *sees Pencil* Agh! Don't want splinter! Don't want lead poisoning!

Pencil: Actually I'm made of graphite so there's no possible-

Mace: Lead poisoning!

Sword: Oh no! I don't want that either! *runs away screaming with Mace*

**Will Sonic and co. escape the clutches of G.U.N.? Who did steal the chaos emeralds and why? Is Sonic falling for Amy? Will Pen confess his secret love to Sword?**

Pen: Hey!

**Next time on Sonic the Thief!**

I'm getting sick of that guy.

Pen: Me too.

So...you have a thing for Sword?

Pen: No! And I'll en garde anyone who says otherwise!


	5. Captured

**A/N:** When I get reviews, I get happy. And when I get happy, Sword gets...PIE!

Sword: Yay! *devours pies*

Pen: Ugh, that's revolting.

Would you do the disclaimer while she eats?

Pen: Fine. The author only owns Gauge. The rest of the characters are owned by Sega.

Sword: Yum, yum!

Pen: Eat slowly, don't gorge yourself.

**Chapter 5- Captured**

Sonic, Tails, and Gauge burst into Amy's room. Cream and Cheese's crying were drowned out by the sound of gunfire coming from outside.

"Great, now we're trapped," Gauge muttered as Sonic rushed over to Amy and helped her out of the bed.

"Sonic? Do you have any chaos emeralds?" Tails asked.

Sonic shook his head. "No, the only one who has one is ol' Knucklehead."

"Wait, chaos emeralds?" Gauge asked. Loud beating was heard on the door and Gauge and Sonic rushed over to hold it shut.

"What about them?" Tails asked.

"That's what these guys want! Some chaos emeralds that they said I stole!" Gauge shouted as the soldiers kept trying to ram down the door.

"Did you steal them Mr. Gauge?" Cream asked through tears.

Gauge shook his head. "I don't even know what they are! But we better find them before these guys have our heads!"

"Wait, there's one person who would steal chaos emeralds," Tails thought aloud.

"Eggman," Sonic growled.

"Who?" Gauge questioned.

"Some fat guy, evil genius, blah, blah, blah," Sonic answered. "Always takin' them."

"We could go to his base," Tails suggested.

"Sounds great, but one problem," Gauge replied.

"What?"

"What do you want to do about them?" Gauge jerked his thumb to the door, which was nearly about to collapsed.

"Need any help?" a voice said. Everyone turned to see a red echidna standing at the window to the room, with his eyes closed and his arms crossed.

"Yeah Knucklehead," Sonic smiled at Knuckles' irritation, "could ya give us your emerald so we can get outta here?"

Knuckles shook his head. "I can't. It was stolen along with the Master Emerald." Everyone, except Gauge gasped. "Eggman took both and I've been looking for them since. In fact, that's the only reason I even saw this fight going on."

"Well that's all very nice, but right now-" Gauge was interrupted as the door finally gave way, knocking Sonic and Gauge back.

"Everybody, split up and meet at Tails' place!" Sonic ordered as the soldiers began firing at them. Knuckles picked up Cream, who held Cheese, and flew out the window with her. Gauge and Tails began fighting the soldiers while Sonic helped Amy to her feet.

"Can ya walk?" Sonic asked her.

"I think so," she replied. Sonic nodded and helped her out the window. They both hopped off of the roof and ran off into town.

"They're gone," Tails told Gauge. Gauge nodded and kicked one of the soldiers into a group that was entering the room. Then Tails and him escaped through the window as well.

-----

"I think we made it," Knuckles breathed a sigh of relief as he glided through the air over the city. Carrying Cream and Cheese made it a bit difficult, but he somehow managed. Every so often, he would turn slightly making his way for Tails' workshop.

Cream had stopped crying and her and Cheese were enjoying the view from such a high place. Below, all the people looked like ants moving around a model city with toy-sized cars driving through it. Cream giggled at it while Cheese made cooing sounds as well.

"Not much further," Knuckles told Cream, interrupting her imagery of the dollhouse-sized city. She glanced up a little to see the workshop in the forest coming into view.

"So Cream," Knuckles began, "you mind telling me what happened back there?"

"Well," Cream said, thinking back to earlier events, "it all began when Ms. Amy and me were attacked by Eggman..."

-----

"Geez, are we almost there?" Gauge asked. He was panting hard while he tried to keep track of his flying guide. Tails turned his head to Gauge and smiled.

"Yeah, we're almost there. It's just a little further," he replied before he took off faster.

"This is ridiculous," Gauge mumbled to himself, barely keeping pace. "Who does he think I am? Sonic?"

Eventually, they arrived at a wooden cottage sitting on a small hill, with a dirt path leading up to the front door. To Gauge, it looked like any sort of house you might see in the wilderness, complete with flowers growing around the place and some forest animals as well.

"I take it you're into nature," Gauge commented as he followed Tails to the door.

Tails laughed. "Not quite." He opened the door to reveal a normal living room, complete with a large television, a few sofas, table, and any other normal furniture. Yet, Gauge could see all sorts of machines and inventions lying all over the place, some only half-finished and some only a pile of parts.

"If you think that's something, you should see the stuff in my lab," Tails said. "C'mon I'll show you." He headed for staircase in between the living room and the kitchen. "We must be the first ones here, so I'll show you some of my newest inventions." Gauge nodded, following him down while still marveling at all the little gadgets and gizmos.

-----

"C'mon Ames," Sonic encouraged Amy as he helped her through the city. "We gotta keep movin'."

"I'm hurrying Sonic," Amy replied, holding her head as she shook her head. Her vision was still blurred and everything seemed to be spinning slightly. Then she felt Sonic pick up her up.

"Don't worry. We'll take the Sonic express," he told her as he sped off. She nuzzled into his chest, content and relaxed as she sighed lovingly. Sonic mentally grinned.

This kept him from seeing the trap that he stepped on, activating a cage that sprang up from the ground, containing the two hedgehogs. Instantly, dozens of G.U.N. soldiers surrounded them, with the leader from before coming up to the bars. He gave a sneer as he laughed at Sonic's predicament.

"Caught you hedgehog," he boasted. "Now, we will get out chaos emeralds back, one way or another."

**A/N:** And that's all for now. Now, Pen did you have something that you had been wanting to say to Sword?

Pen: *mumbles something*

Sword: Huh?

Pen: Sorry about making you worry about me.

Sword: Aw! I forgive you! *kisses his cheek*

Hm, young love.

Pen: Ugh! I'm going off to read something deeper than this drivel.

**Will Sonic and Amy escape?**

Not this guy again.

**Will the chaos emeralds be found? Who stole the Master Emerald? And-ack!**

*Chokes the guy* There, much better.

Sword: Find out next time on-!

Sword!

Sword: Hee hee! Sorry!


	6. Out of the Fire

**A/N:** Can you smell that?

Sword: *sniff* Smells like hamburgers...Are we having hamburgers!

No! Can't you smell the suspense?

Pen: I smell doom.

Well, whatever you smell, know this: I don't own any of the characters except Gauge. All the others are owned by Sega.

Sword:...Chicken? Noodles? Oh! Are we having chicken noodle soup?!

**Chapter 6-Out of the Fire...**

"And this is an upgrade to the engine for the Tornado," Tails explained to Gauge as they walked around his lab. Gauge only understood some of the things that Tails was going on about, but he could barely concentrate as he kept wondering where the others were.

"And over here," Tails began, but was cut off by Gauge.

"Tails, shouldn't they have been here by now?" he asked. Tails frowned as he nodded. "Yeah. In fact, Sonic should have been here first, even with dealing with Amy."

Gauge groaned. "Well that's great. Now we don't know-" but he stopped as they heard a knock at the door. They both raced up the stairs to Tails' front door, where they found Knuckles, Cream, and Cheese waiting for them.

"Tails!" Cream hugged him. Tails blushed slightly as Gauge smirked. Then he turned his attention to Knuckles. "Is Sonic with you?"

Knuckles shook his head. "No. They aren't here already?"

Gauge repeated Knuckles' movement. "Well if they aren't here and they aren't with you guys, should we assume they're still out there?"

"Doubtful," Knuckles said. "Sonic 's too fast to not be here already."

"Meaning?" Cream asked.

"Meaning we assume the worst," Tails answered.

Gauge sighed. "So, we go out and find them and hope they G.U.N. doesn't already have them."

"I can put your minds at east about that spike," a saucy voice said. They turned around to see an albino bat in a pink and black jumpsuit, with the look of someone straight out of a noir film walking up the trail to Tails' house. Following right behind her was a dark hedgehohg with red stripes in his spikes. His expression could be read as either serious or pissed off, but either way it would seem like people tended to stay out of his way.

"Who are you?" Gauge questioned.

"G.U.N. Agents Rouge and Shadow, spike," the bat replied, almost flirtatiously. And we have some questions."

-----

Amy huddled in the corner of the dark cell that she found herself in. As far as she could tell, the walls were made of thick steel along with the only door that led into the room. The door had a little peephole with bars that Amy had tried to peer through, but only been able to see a hallway covered in the same design as her cell. There was a door across from hers, most likely leading to another cell, but nobody had answered when she had called.

So, she continued to sit and wait, hoping that her friends were on their wa to rescue her and Sonic. That's when Amy realized that Sonic was nowhere to be found. She hadn't seen him since they had both been knocked out in the cage.

"Oh, I hope he isn't in danger," Amy worried. She couldn't bear the thought of Sonic being hurt.

Suddenly, the door to her cell was flung open. Two large shadows threw in a smaller one, which landed on the ground with a thud. It groaned as the other two shut the door, leaving Amy alone with this unknown figure.

"Ugh, not exactly five-star treatment," the figure groaned.

Amy instantly recognized the voice. "Sonic?" she asked tentatively.

The figure gazed up at her. "Ames?" it queried.

"Sonic!" Amy exclaimed, rushing over to him. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a constricting hug. "What happened to you?"

"Amy!" Sonic gasped. "Can't breath!" Amy let go with an apolegetic expression plastered on her face. Sonic chuckled. "Well, ta answer your question, they 'questioned' me." He used air quotes to emphasize his point.

Amy gasped. "They did?"

Sonic nodded. "Yup. Now, they know we didn't do it." Amy was puzzled, but before she could ask her question, Sonic continued. "They're keeping us here as bait. They want ta lure Gauge and the others."

Amy didn't know whether to be infuriated by G.U.N.'s plan or worried for her friends. She eventually settled on breaking down into tears. This made Sonic feel uneasy as he tried to comfort her. "Hey Ames, it'll be okay," he assured her. "Tails, Knuckles, Cream, and Gauge can handle this."

Amy sniffled, nodding her head in agreement. "I know."

"Then what's wrong?" Sonic inquired.

Amy sniffed. "Well, its my fault we got captured."

Sonic held her close to him. "No, its not Amy. What happened happened. All we can do is hope Tails and the rest get soon." He wiped a tear from Amy's eyes. "Now, cheer up."

Amy grinned as he ran her arm over her eyes. She leaned her head against Sonic as he leaned against the wall of the cell. Amy was about to fall asleep, but she felt something warm on top of her head. Almost like something split apart and moist, as if it were lips. When it went away, she turned her head to Sonic, but he was already asleep. Amy smiled and went back to trying to sleep. She didn't know if it was what she thought, but she decided to believe that it was.

Unknown to her, Sonic's slightly opened one of his eyes and gave a small, cocky grin.

-----

"And that's all," Tails explained. He had been going over with Rouge and Shadow about everything that had happened today. Knuckles and Gauge were watching the windows and door for any sign of Sonic or G.U.N. while Cream was happily playing with Cheese.

"Well, it would seem like Eggman's style to steal the chaos emeralds and blame someone else," Rouge considered slowly. "But..."

"But what is he up to?" Shadow spoke for the first time. "What's his game? No threat or anything?"

"Well who cares?" Knuckles said. "We need to get the chaos emeralds back. And the Master Emerald."

"So I can steal it?" Rouge suggested.

"In your dreams batgirl," Knuckles snarled. Gauge gave a half-grin at their little fight.

"What we need to do," Tails interjected, "is find a way to rescue Sonic and Amy." He turned to Shadow and Rouge. "Is there any way we can get them out?"

"Why should we risk our jobs to help you?" Rouge asked. "We were sent here to bring you in after all."

"Because if this Eggman guy is behind everything, then from what I can tell, things are going to get ugly," Gauge retorted.

Rouge made eye contact with Shadow and he nodded. Shadow pulled out a small electronic pad with the label G.U.N. on it and pressed a few keys. On the screen, a map of what looked like a base came up. "Most likely, they would be held here," Shadow pointed at a space on the screen that showed a room the underground part of the base. "Getting there won't be easy."

-----

Amy woke up in the same darkness as before. She could feel Sonic's chest slowly move up and down and his slight snoring ruffling her quills. She pushed off of him and admired his peaceful state. Amy would have thought it was so cute if the fact that they were still trapped didn't occupy her thoughts.

She surveyed their surrounding, but still found nothing of use. They wouldn't be able to break out on their own as the steel was too thick. So the only thing they could do was hope that help was on the way.

That's when Amy heard an alarm start to blar through the base, warning everyone of intruders. Amy turned to Sonic and was surprised that he was still asleep. _How can he sleep through THIS? _she wondered as she covered her ears. She shook him awake. He snorted and blinked several times before focusing on Amy.

Sonic's hands went up to his own ears immediately. "What's goin' on?" he tried to yell.

"I don't know," Amy shouted back, but all Sonic could read were her lips. That's when the door to their cell slammed open. Standing there was Tails and Knuckles.

"Sonic!" Tails yelled excitedly as he rushed up to him. He tackled him in a hug as Sonic laughed.

"C'mon! We don't have time for this!" Knuckles told them as he pulled Tails off of Sonic. Tails rubbed his head sheepishly. Before they could leave, the wall behind them exploded into rubble. As they picked themselves up, they saw several robots like the ones that had attacked Amy earlier that day. Hovering above them in an egg-shaped machine was-

"Eggman!" Sonic hissed.

"Hey, what's taking so-You!" Gauge said as he came into the cell with Cream and Cheese.

"Ho, ho, ho!" Eggman laughed. "I just came by to deliver something to you Sonic!" At that, he dropped a bomb into the middle of the group. They scattered, but the blast knocked them all down. "And I came to take something as well!" Eggman had two of his robots grab Amy.

"Amy," Sonic muttered as he tried to regain his senses.

"If you want to see your precious girlfriend again, bring the final chaos emerald to my base!" Eggman stated his offer before he left with his minions, laughing all the way.

"No!" Sonic roared as he attempted to run, but stumbled slightly. "Amy."

Shadow and Rouge came into the cell, but stopped when they saw all the damage. "What the hell?" Shadow uttered.

"What happened?" Rouge asked Tails, who was brushing debris off himself.

"Eggman came," Tails replied sadly. "He took Amy and he wants G.U.N.'s final emerald."

"But where's that at?" Sonic questioned.

"Right here," Rouge answered, producing the green emerald. "When we came here to rescue you, Eggman already had his robots attacking the place. Me and Shadow defended the emerald while they came to get you."

"Well, we need that," Sonic said, reaching for the emerald, but Rouge held it away from him.

"In your condition?" she raised her eyebrow. "I think-"

"I'll go with him," Shadow offered. "You can explain to the commander what happened."

Rouge hesistated, but surrendered the emerald to Sonic before she said farewell to Shadow. Then she ran off to find the commander.

"Everyone gather around," Knuckles said. Gauge, Cream, Cheese, Tails, and him held on to Sonic and Shadow. The two of them touched the emerald before yelling "Chaos Control!" and disappearing into a flash of green light.

**A/N:** And there is what I smelled before.

Sword: I still don't smell anything.

Pen: Of course not. You're a bloody sword.

Sword: Hey, swords can smell too! Take that!

Pen: Ouch! En garde!

Ah, there's my rating-booster going into action. Anyway, stay tuned for the next exciting installment of "Sonic the...Thief?"!


	7. Today You Die

**A/N:** Okay, who's seen my pen?

Pen: What do you want?

I need a pen. I can't write the next chapter...without...one.

Pen: Hey, don't look at me like that! *tries to run*

*Grabs Pen and begans to write* Hey Sword!

Sword: Yessers?

Disclaimer?

Sword: Yup yup! The author only owns Gauge. The other characters are owned by Sega. Ooo, that looks like fun Pen!

Hold still! I can't write if you don't hold still.

**Chapter 7-Today You Die**

Amy sniffled as she sat in her cage, that swung gently in the air as it hung suspended above the floor. Twice in one day she had been captured and held against her will. Right now, she prefered her original prison with Sonic. At least he had made Amy feel better.

"Sonic..." she moaned.

"Ho, ho, ho! No Sonic here!" a hearty voice chuckled. Amy looked up to see Eggman walking underneath her. He strode over to a control panel in the room and pulled a lever that caused Amy's cage to rise higher. Then he pulled another one that revealed windows all around the room.

The windows showed Amy the pale sky, with clouds lazily drifting pass. Amy figured that she must be aboard Eggman's carrier.

"Enjoy the view," Eggman told her, waving his arm to the windows behind him. "While you still can." He gave another laugh as he strode out of the room, leaving Amy alone once again.

"Sonic, please hurry," she prayed.

-----

"Ugh, I think I'm going to be sick," Gauge muttered as the group arrived on top of Eggman's carrier. He put his hands on his knees and leaned over, breathing heavily.

Cream came up behind him and rubbed his back. "My mama does this to make me feel better when I have a tummyache," she said to him.

"Don't worry about it," Sonic piped up. "You'll get used to it soon." He slapped Gauge's back, causing him to moan loudly.

"We don't have time for this faker," Shadow reminded Sonic. "We need to find Amy and Eggman."

Sonic nodded. "Right," he agreed. The group found a door nearby and, after having Knuckles smash it, ran inside and began their search.

-----

Alarms blasted their warning as Eggman sat at the bridge of his ship. He turned to several monitors on his control panel in front of him. The monitors displayed Sonic and the rest running down corridors.

Eggman grinned evily. "Perfect." He pressed several buttons on the panel, activating his security robots. "This time, none of you shall survive."

-----

Sonic and co. ran down the halls despite the alarms drowning out all sounds. Suddenly, the alarms stopped just as several bullets came right for them. Missing the group by inches, they turned around to see more of Eggman's robots and some Eggpawns as well.

"Eggknights and eggpawns! Attack!" Eggman's voice boomed over the intercoms lining the hallway.

"Knights and pawns?" Knuckles cocked an eyebrow.

"I guess he likes chess," Tails commented.

"Well in that case," Sonic dashed for the nearest robot, "Check!" He homing attacked its torso and soared into the air. "Mate!" he shouted as he kicked its head off.

The rest of the team joined in as the corridor become a mass of bullets, flying metal, and the heroes dodging attacks.

-----

Amy heard the fighting echoing throughout the ship. She raised her head, knowing that it was Sonic coming to rescue her. Her heart fluttered at that thought.

Amy stood up in her cage and summoned her Piko Piko Hammer. She held it in a batter's stance and took a swing at the bars on the cage. They held as she felt the vibrations travel through the hammer and up her arm. Nevertheless, she kept at it, giving another swing in hopes of breaking out to help the others.

-----

"Sonic!" Gauge shouted over the fighting. He stabbed a eggknight through its torso and kicked it off. "Go and find Amy! We can handle things here!"

Sonic nodded. He took off, with Shadow following him. Shadow caught up to Sonic. "Find Amy. I'll look for Eggman."

"Gotcha," Sonic replied as they separated at a fork. Gauge watched them go off before he returned his attention to helping the other. Knuckles was holding off several robots on his own as he ripped off their limbs or punched right through them.

Tails supported from the air, dropping down on unsuspecting enemies and beating them with his namesakes. Cream flew nearby him, throwing Cheese through robots and destroying a good amount herself.

Gauge grinned. "Hey save some for me!" he yelled as he jumped into the middle of one group and began wailing on them with his lead pipe.

-----

Sonic raced down the hallway, searching each room on his way and destroying the few enemies that dared to impede him. After several minutes, he came to the room where Amy hung in the air.

"Amy!" Sonic exclaimed both happily and relieved.

Amy glanced down at the voice. "Sonic!" she replied as her eyes lit up.

"Hang on Ames. I'll get ya out," Sonic told her, but at that moment the ground began to shake violently. Sonic turned around to see Eggman in a large machine that looked similar to Omega.

"Today hedgehog, you die!" Eggman shouted as he swung an arm at Sonic.

-----

Shadow entered what he assumed was the bridge as it was at the front of the ship. His eyes wandered around the room, but there was no sign of Eggman. Only simple droids that operated the controls of the ship.

"Damn," Shadow muttered. He decided that he should find Sonic, who might need help getting Amy out of here. With that thought in mind, he ran off.

-----

"That's the last of them," Knuckles stated as Gauge and him defeated the last robots. Tails and Cream came down from flying.

"Well, what now?" Gauge asked.

"We should try to find the others," Tails replied. Everyone agreed and followed the direction that Sonic and Shadow had gone. When the reached the fork, they tried to decide who would go where when Shadow ran into them.

"Nothing down there?" Gauge questioned.

"No," Shadow replied. Then he gestured to the path Sonic had taken. "C'mon. Faker might need help."

-----

Sonic dodged the arm and tried to jump up to Amy's cage. Eggman laughed and pushed a button inside the cockpit of the cage rose higher and directly underneath it, the floor opened up to reveal a pool of green liquid.

"Woah!" Sonic cried, stopping short of the pool. "What the?"

Eggman laughed. "It's acid you foolish hedgehog! Try another stunt like that and I'll drop her in!" Sonic glared angrily at Eggman. "Now, come over here so I can destroy you!"

Eggman again swung at Sonic, but he dodged it and ran up the robot's arm. When he neared the protected cockpit of Eggman's suit, he homing attacked it to try and break it. It gave a little crack, but not enough to do much damage. Eggman tried to hit Sonic off, but he dodged and Eggman ended up hitting the cockpit, cracking it more.

"Accursed rodent!" Eggman cried.

"C'mon Eggy," Sonic taunted. "You're movin' waaaayyy too slow!"

Eggman roared and tried to hit Sonic, but everytime Sonic kept dodging. Finally, one of the arms went into the pool of acid and instantly half of it was eaten away.

"That's enough of this," Eggman snarled. Guns on the robot's shoulders and torso popped out and took aim at Sonic.

-----

The group came to the door where Sonic and Eggman were fighting. The peered inside to see Sonic dodging Eggman's bullets.

Just then they heard a voice from somewhere outside the ship start to talk, which temporarily stopped Sonic and Eggman's battle.

"Dr. Eggman," the voice said. "You are to land your ship immediately or we will be forced to fire."

Tails looked out the windows in the room and saw several jets fly by with the G.U.N. letters printed on them.

"Well I guess Rouge got help," Knuckles said.

Eggman laughed, and fired at the windows in the room, trying to hit the jets. His bullets found the wing on one and sent it spiraling into an island that was right below them.

"You leave us no choice," the voice stated.

Suddenly, everyone felt rocking on the ship. "What was that?" Gauge shouted.

"It sounds like explosion! They must be trying to shoot down the ship!" Tails replied. Then he turned to Sonic. "Sonic, we got to get out of here!"

Sonic gave a thumbs up. He ran over to Amy's cage and tried to homing attack through it. Before Eggman could notice, Shadow, Knuckles, and Gauge distracted him by starting to fight him.

"Almost...got...it," Sonic said with each hit.

"Sonic? Mind hurrying up?" Gauge asked as he dodged the bullets. Shadow managed to take out one gun with a homing attack of his own and Knuckles was slowly wearing down the legs with well-placed punches.

After another hit, the bars to the cage gave way and Sonic was inside it with Amy. She threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Oh Sonic! Thank you!"

Sonic slowly gave her a hug back. "Anytime Ames," he whispered. They pulled back from each other and locked eyes. Sonic unconciously began to lean in towards Amy. Her heart nearly stopped. She closed her eyes and began to lean into him as well.

At that moment, another explosion rocked the ship and everyone began to feel like they were falling.

"The engines must be gone!" Tails explained over the commotion. "We have to go!" But before anyone could leave, the front of the ship crashed into the island, throwing everyone around the room. The last thing Sonic saw was Amy going headfirst into the floor. Then his vision went black.

**A/N:** There we go.

Pen: *gets out of author's hands* Why don't you ever do that to Sword?

Because I haven't needed to kill anyone. *looks at intended flamers* Yet. Anyway, the next chapter should be the last one and after that, I'll write a sequel. Yes, the adventure won't end with just this story.

Sword: So, please review!


	8. Go Be The Hero

**A/N:** Sorry to leave you hanging with the last chapter.

Sword: Yeah! That was mean!

Pen: Oh hush. And don't use me again this time.

Don't worry. I've already written it down. Now Sword?

Sword: The author only owns Gauge.

Pen: The rest is owned by Sega.

Sword: Hey I wanted to say that!

Pen: So?

Sword: Why you! *starts to make-out with Pen*

Uh...Well, on with the story then...Guys...Guys! What the hell? Keep it PG-13 at least! This isn't a lemon!

**Chapter 8-Go Be The Hero**

Sonic's vision was blurred. He wanted to shake his head, but the slightest movement caused it to throb in pain. He opened his mouth to speak, but found his voice raspy. Sonic cleared it and tried again.

"Amy?" he called. "Tails? Knuckles? Anyone?" He heard a movement coming nearby. Sonic turned and was surprised to find Eggman hovering in his little pod, right above the now destroyed robot.

"Ah, Sonic. Glad to see you're awake," Eggman sneered. He pushed a button in his pod. Cracking noises were heard all over the robot as the armor slowly broke away.

"This should take care of you once and for all!" Eggman laughed, as the armor completely fell away to reveal a massive metallic sphere. It was smooth on its surface and the only thing that stood out was a box on the side, with red digital numbers counting down. Also, surrounding it in little holders were all the chaos emeralds.

"I really should thank Shadow," Eggman continued. "Without him, this wouldn't be complete."

"Wha?" Sonic began, but Eggman cut him off.

"Yes, its a bomb. Powered by the chaos emeralds with the Master Emerald in its core!" he stated proudly. "The blast will be enough to wipe out you, your friends, this island, and even the city!" Eggman roared with laughter as Sonic slowly stood up."Then I'll build the capital city of my new empire! Eggtopolis!"

"You're crazy!" Sonic retorted. "You're gonna kill everyone!"

"Exactly," Eggman smiled. His pod raised higher into the air until he went through a hole in the top of the roof that opened for him and closed right behind him.

Sonic growled. He quickly ran around trying to find all of his friends. He found Tails first, who was trying to stand shakily to his feet. "Tails! Ya alright?"

Tails nodded. "What's going on?" Sonic gave him a brief explanation, causing Tails eyes to widen.

"Can ya stop it?" Sonic asked.

Tails looked over at the sphere, whose numbers now read ten minutes left. "Maybe." He ran over to it and started to search for a way to shut it down, while Sonic found everyone else.

The last person he found was Amy, but she seemed to be completely unstable. She didn't even realize what was happening and couldn't stand on her own, forcing Sonic to carry her in his arms.

Meanwhile, Tails kept shocking himself when he tried to touch the chaos emeralds. "Ow!"

"Must have some sort of defensive system," Shadow commented.

Tails nodded. "Yeah, but I don't know how to shut it down without taking the emeralds out. And we only have eight minutes left."

"Wait!" Knuckles said. "The G.U.N. jets! Couldn't they shoot it?"

"It's possible," Tails rubbed his chin in thought. "But I'm not sure if it will have any effect. It might just make the bomb go off sooner." Knuckles sighed. "But we could try flagging them down and let them," Tails added. "It might destroy the shield around the emeralds and destroy the Master Emerald inside, shattering it and reducing the blast radius."

"Sounds like a plan!" Sonic said. The group ran off, heading down the corridors and looking for an exit.

After a while, Cream noticed that they were missing someone. "Where is Mr. Gauge?" she asked.

The group halted. Gauge was missing. "We don't have time for this," Shadow pointed out.

"I'll go back," Sonic volunteered. "You guys get outside." He gave Amy to Knuckles and then took off.

-----

Gauge stood in the hallway where a large door frame was. It seemed like some sort of heavy blast door. But before he could wonder anymore, he heard Sonic calling for him.

Just as he saw Sonic round the corner, Gauge grabbed his pipe and smashed some controls nearby, causing him to be trapped on one part of the ship and separating him from Sonic.

"Gauge!" Sonic punched the door, but it was solid and thick. He tried to use his homing attack, but without the emeralds, he wasn't able to smash through.

"Sonic," a voice over an intercom nearby called. Sonic walked over to it.

"Gauge? What are ya doin'?"

"Stopping this thing," Gauge replied. "Let's face it. The jets most likely will just set this thing off."

"No!" Sonic replied. "C'mon, get outta there!"

"What for?" There was a pause. "I've just caused trouble for you guys. Ruined your reputation. Well, now I got a chance to fix this."

"What do ya-"

"I'll stop the bomb. You can just take credit for it. After all, you are the hero," Gauge chuckled.

"But-"

"But nothing. I'm not needed. You are! Especially by a certain girl." Sonic blushed at this. "Yes, you know who," Gauge added, almost as if he could see Sonic's face. "Now, go be the hero and get her and the rest out of here."

Sonic could only nod. "Good luck Gauge." Then he turned and left.

-----

Gauge arrived at the bridge once again. He glared at the massive bomb, whose timer now read five minutes. He walked up to it and stuck his pipe in between the notch where one of the emeralds sat and the emerald itself. Instantly, an eletric shock ran up his arm.

He nearly faltered, but gripped the pipe harder and pried. The emerald began to move ever so slightly and it eventually popped out. Gauge studied his now charred gloves. He could feel the electricity still running through his body and he felt sore all over. But he found the next emerald and went to work again.

-----

"Where are they?" Tails wondered aloud. Knuckles was trying to get the jets attention, while the others were waiting at the edge of the small island for Sonic and Gauge.

"Hey!" Knuckles called to them. Everyone looked into the sky to see several helicopters flying out to the island, all with the G.U.N. logo on them.

As one of them landed, Rouge stepped out. "So did I miss anything?" she asked.

-----

Gauge grunted, as he crawled on the sphere and hastily searched around. "Ugh, where is that damn fourth chaos emerald?!" he cried. He had managed to get three out so far, but the fourth one was eluding him.

"Where could it-" he stopped as he saw its red glow nearby. "Oh, there it is."

-----

"Look! It's Mr. Sonic!" Cream exclaimed. Everyone turned to see the blue blur himself running up to them.

"Sonic!" Tails greeted. Then a confused expression covered his face. "Where's Gauge?"

Sonic thumbed behind him. "He's takin' out the chaos emeralds."

"But that'll kill him!" Tails replied. Sonic nodded.

-----

Thirty seconds left. Gauge struggled with the last emerald, but it seemed to be stuck. He discarded his lead pipe and grabbed the white emerald with his hands, digging his fingers between the crack.

"C'mon," Gauge pleaded as he pulled, trying to ignore the constant shocks. His body was now covered in charred and burned skin and all his nerves felt numb. Ten seconds left

"Get out." Five seconds left.

Just as it reached one, the emerald came out. Gauge held it up wearily and triumphantly. "Gotcha," he whispered happily as the bomb began to glow white.

-----

The ground outside rumbled as everyone noticed the white lights coming from the carrier.

"The bomb!" Tails screamed as they were all engulfed in a white light.

Sonic closed his eyes, expecting some sort of immense pain. But after a few seconds, he opened his eyes to see the light dying down. It had only touched the inside of the island, coming close to them, but not touching.

"Did it?" Rouge left the question hanging in the air.

"Yes," Shadow answered. "It went off."

"Mr. Gauge," Cream sniffed, as silent tears ran down her face. Tails frowned and moved over to comfort her. She buried her head in his chest as Cheese floated above, crying as well.

"Mmmm," Sonic heard. He turned to Amy, was a moment ago was lying peacefully on the ground. She sat up and looked around at all the solemn faces of her friends. "What's going on?"

-----

After G.U.N. had determined it was safe, Sonic and co. had began to search what was left of the carrier, along with G.U.N. soldiers. While the soldiers looked for any sign of where Eggman might be hiding, Sonic and his friends were searching for any sign of their lost friend.

Cream and Tails were doing their best as they searched small sections, while Amy helped Knuckles. However, Knuckles was more concerned with finding the Master Emerald, which he guessed was now in pieces. "Gotta find it before batgirl does," he muttered.

"This is a waste of time," Shadow declared as he, Sonic, and Rouge lifted up a piece of a wall to see if Gauge was under it. "He's gone." Sonic stayed silent as he kept searching. Shadow grunted and walked off.

Rouge followed him. "What's the matter hun?" she inquired.

Shadow faced her. "We should be looking for Eggman. Gauge is gone. Nothing could have survived-"

"Hey guys!" Knuckles shouted over from a pile of rubble. "Come here!"

Everyone gathered around as Knuckles continued to dig and punch holes in the pile. "What is it?" Sonic asked.

Knuckles just kept digging, until he reached what he had wanted to show everyone. Gasps were heard all around the group.

"Holy-" Rouge whispered.

"Impossible," Tails added.

The rest could only stare into the hole, marveling at the discovery.

**A/N: **And that's the end.

Sword: WHAT?! But what was in the hole?!

Well, you'll find out in the sequel entitled "March of the Eggmans". Be on the lookout for the first chapter in about a month.

Sword: But I can't wait that long!

Pen: Oh calm down.

Sword: Must release anger...En garde!


End file.
